The NAACP is calling for a moratorium on the expansion privately-managed charter schools, its strongest stance against the popular publicly-funded schools.

But in New Jersey, where 88 charter schools will greet more than 40,000 children this fall, privately-managed charter schools are uncommon. And, charter school advocates say, state rules here make it difficult to open a charter school — and keep it running.

“It doesn’t make any sense in a state like New Jersey,” said Nicole Cole, president and CEO of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association. “It is counter-intuitive and contradictory to what most of what the charter movement has achieved in this state. We are providing options to parents that are greater and more successful than ever before.”

Charter schools are public schools run by an independent board of trustees. The state Department of Education must approve new schools and renew their contract, or charter, every four to five years. Charter school boards, tasked with governing the school, can hire for-profit or non-profits to provide management services. Only three for-profit management companies operate in New Jersey, according to Cole.

Last month the NAACP issued a resolution in support of ending the proliferation of privately managed charter schools. The organization said charter schools are increasingly targeting low-income communities and “have contributed to the increased segregation rather than diverse integration of our public school system.” The resolution went on to highlight some of its concerns, which read, in part:

“Research and reports have documented disproportionately high use of punitive and exclusionary discipline in addition to differential enrollment practices that violate protections of student rights for public schooling.”

“Analyses of annual missing charter funds have been estimated at nearly half a billion dollars nationally.”

“Current policies force district campuses to accommodate co-locations of charter schools, resulting in shortages of resources and space and increasing tension and conflict within school communities.”

“Weak oversight of charter schools puts students and communities at risk of harm, public funds at risk of being wasted, and further erodes local control of public education.”

NAACP members voted on the resolution in July but it’s not final until the national Board of Directors approves it in the fall.

Shavar Jeffries, president of Democrats for Education, a political action committee favoring charter schools, urged the NAACP to vote down the resolution. While he acknowledged some charter schools perform poorly and some states have weak oversight, Jeffries said they should work together to shut those low performers down.

“We should be fixing what’s broken and expanding what works, not pre-empting the choices of parents of color about the best schools appropriate for meeting the particular needs of their children,” he said in a statement.

Cole said the process for opening a charter school in New Jersey is already stringent and increasingly competitive.

“You need to have a foundation, you need a solid board, you can’t come in here and get a charter for a school without having a foundation,” she said. “We do not have any of these issues that we have seen in other states. It’s a non-starter here for us. In our sense, the performance of the school is what matters.”

Even if the resolution is approved by the board, the NAACP has no direct power to authorize or close charter schools.